Folding Bikes - likely stolen bikes on Gumtree (UK)

I've been on the lookout for bargains recently and I'm alarmed at the number of suspicious-looking ads.

There was a brompton deal I was interested in: the ad stated that the owner had specific reasons for selling the bike which made sense. I phoned up and was disappointed to find that the bike was already sold, but lo & behold, the seller had another. He sounded rather ill-aquainted with the spec and techincal details of the bikes, and seemed willing to meet anywhere in London. The location of the bikes acording to the listings were as vague as possible, and in retrospect the prices were too generous (yeah, guess I should have twigged earlier). I then found his other adverts on gumtree, several of them, all almost exactly the same, with the explanation of reason for sale text copied and pasted.

There appears to be a lot of this going on on Gumtree.

Seems like a great way to make some busts. What's up with the police in the UK? Maybe poor policing explains all the crime.

Sounds like stealing to order :(

Have you shared your suspicions with the police?

Why not try to get a movement started, to encourage/require sellers to publish the serial number of bikes they're trying to sell? When the Seller is reluctant to publish the S/N, you can be be fairly sure the bike is hot.

Regards
T

Seems like a great way to make some busts. What's up with the police in the UK? Maybe poor policing explains all the crime.
Maybe it's a police sting & the buyers are arrested for buying stolen property

I'm actually a bit ignorant when it comes to how bikes are ID'd: last year I sold a Dahon Courser that I'd bought on ebay and the buyer expected the frame to have a serial number under the bottom bracket, but neither of the Dahons I've owned have that. So the accompanying documentation would be the only proof of authenticity.

A colleague of mine wanted to buy a brompton and arranged to meet a seller at Waterloo station (don't remember if it was Loot or some other source). The bike was not in the condition claimed in the ad (wonder if they hadn't actually stolen it when they placed the ad?), so he was humming and hahing. The seller became angry to the point of being scary and the police came over. After ascertaining what was happening, my friend was allowed to leave, and the police continued questioning the seller.

I have no idea what happened to the seller, or if the bike was stolen, but my friend ended up buying his Brompton from a bike shop.

joan

Hello. New poster here.

I too have been looking at folding bikes on the London Gumtree. It can be interesting to Google the seller's mobile number which often brings up interesting results. The vendor of one bike advertised yesterday has previously advertised five or six other bikes under different names. And the seller of another today has also sold a lot of different bikes for a variety of reasons: "I've just bought a car", "I've just bought a moped", "No room to store two bikes" etc etc. All very dubious (unless they lead an exceedingly complicated life with almost weekly changes of travel preferences). Whilst dealing in bicycles on Gumtree could be a legitimate exercise, one would expect the individual's name and/or the story behind the sale to remain consistent. Advice on Googling mobile numbers: sometimes you need to change the spacing of the number.

It seems to me that, here in London at least, buying new or on ebay are safer bets.

Hi foldingtv,
do you think the police would follow this up and if so, how would be best to contact them given that this isn't borough-specific?

Met police leaflet stuck to my fridge:

House is being burgled: call 999
House has been burgled: call 0300 123 1212

The second number would be the one to call

Also, some boroughs have a bike theft officer, who may be able to help

(though the reason I know this is a friend had her bicycle stolen from a bike rack in a busy high street on a saturday afternoon, near a bench and under a CCTV. She spoke to the bike theft dude at the police station. It didn't do her any good)

Under target driven policing, bike theft probably doesn't attract any quality points - hence no action unless you yourself photographed the theft in progress, followed the thief to his lair, identified him by name and can vouch that he is certainly at home at this moment. Then they might turn out and talk to him.

It makes me sick. Labour have ruined the police service.

The apathetic side of me thinks that, as EvilV says, there probably isn't going to be a great result achieved going to the police at this stage when evidence is a bit thin on the ground and, as chagzuki points out, it isn't borough-specific. However, the journalistic side of me wonders whether there might be a story in it if I can find someone to take it on. Might draw some attention to the issue. I'll send an e-mail and see what happens.

Dave